Previous work from this laboratory has shown that ethanol increases the net deposition of collagen in the liver of rats given a cirrhogenic diet, and that the effect of ethanol is to inhibit the degradation of collagen. The objective of the proposed work is to define the mechanism whereby ethanol inhibits the degradation of collagen in dietary cirrhosis in the rat. This will be approached by studying the effect of the administration of ethanol to rats on a cirrhogenic diet. Parameters to be measured and compared include lysosomal and neutral collagenases, and possible circulating and tissue bound inhibitors of these collagenases. The distribution of neutral, acid soluble and insoluble collagen in these livers will be compared, as will the distribution of types of collagen (I, III and presumptive basement membrane collagen). The effect of ethanol (or metabolites generated from ethanol) on collagen gel formation will be tested in vitro. Finally, the sites of deposition of sulfated and non-sulfated glycosaminoglycans in these livers will be compared. Data obtained biochemically will be compared with morphological data using both light and electron microscopic techniques.